Lehmann: Hard-throwing Righthander Makes Team

Gene Swindoll

06/19/2006

Pearl River Central (MS) High School righthander Mike Lehmann, along with 64 other top southeast players, showcased their talents at the East Coast Professional Showcase southeast tryout recently in an attempt to make the 20-man southeast team.

"I had to leave early so they went ahead and told me that I had made the team," said Mike, who threw in the 88 to 89 miles per hour range, topping out at 92 during the tryout.

Mike and his teammates will represent the southeast in the showcase, which will be held at Wilmington, North Carolina later this summer.

While that will be a big event for him, he's also close to another big event - July 1st, the first day that college coaches can call senior recruits on the phone. And based on the number of letters he is receiving he should receive a lot of calls.

"I am receiving letters from Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tulane, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas has sent a letter, Memphis and Southern Miss," said Mike, who, along with his family, moved to Mississippi from Meraux, Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina.

Three of those schools are showing him a lot more attention than the others.

"The three teams showing me the most interest are Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Tulane," he said.

And not surprisedly those three are also at the top of his favorites list.

"My top three are Tulane, Mississippi State and Ole Miss," said Mike.

He explained why those three stand out.

Tulane - "They are a good academic school and they have always been good in baseball. I used to go to a lot of Tulane games. I like Tulane."

Mississippi State - "I just started thinking about Mississippi State a few years ago. We went up to their campus and it is real, real nice. And they run a good program up there."

Ole Miss - "Ole Miss is good, too. They have a real nice place up there."

Although none of the three have made a firm scholarship offer, based on what they have told Mike, it appears to be just a matter of time before they do.

"I haven't really received any offers yet," said Mike, who topped out at 94 miles per hour this past season. "(MSU assistant) Coach (Tommy) Raffo said they would like for me to play for them and they were going to do whatever they could to get me in maroon and white. (Assistant) Coach (Chad) Sutter from Tulane also talked to me about it. He said they would like to get me there. Ole Miss said the same thing."

Will Mike end up wearing MSU maroon and white, Tulane green and white or Ole Miss red and blue? Keep it on Scout.com to find out.

Gene Swindoll is the publisher of Dawgs' Bite, Powered by GenesPage.com, the source for Mississippi State sports on the Scout.com sports network. You can contact him by emailing swindoll@genespage.com.